(Image source: Flickr / Scientology Media)

BY LAUREN ZIMA

The world is getting a bit of insight into some inner turmoil in the notoriously secretive Church of Scientology. An e-mail has been leaked from one of its former executives -- and she’s not happy. USA Today reports:

“A former Church of Scientology executive has sharply criticized the church's leaders and fundraising efforts in an e-mail to thousands of current and former church members. The church, however, dismisses Debra Cook as a ‘disgruntled defector’ who does not represent the majority of church followers.”

This is one of the church’s many commercials. 50-year-old Cook was an executive at Florida headquarters for the church, and in an her e-mail, criticizes the church’s current leader for focusing too much on fundraising. The Village Voice first broke the story, and explains Cook’s stance.

“She, like many other longtime church members who have been leaving Scientology, is fed up with the intense pressure under leader David Miscavige to raise money from people who are already giving every penny they can.”

That e-mail went out to 12,000 current members. The Tampa Bay Times notes Cook quoted church founder L. Ron Hubbard multiple times -- and also gave some insider details.

“She said the church is hoarding ‘well in excess of a billion dollars’ … in violation of policies written by church founder L. Ron Hubbard. … Cook said in her letter that the dominance of church leader David Miscavige as the sole source of power in Scientology violates a system of checks and balances put in place by Hubbard before he died in 1986.”

In response, church officials are calling Cook a heretic.